What to do after being rejected from CELTA ?

Hi there.
I recently applied for the upcoming CELTA course in August, but I got rejected after the interview. I did well in pre-task interview test, not well on the interview. This is the feedback I got from them.

Your application had a number of strengths. It is clear that you have considerable teaching experience and are very motivated to do a recognised qualification.
However, sadly, I am not in a position to offer you a place on the course due to issues with the accuracy of your written and spoken English. The written task you completed did not meet the very high standard required to be accepted onto the course. Your text showed a number of grammatical and lexical problems. Your spoken English demonstrated a number of phonological problems and grammatical slips that prevent it from being at the CEFR C1 level. In addition, your language awareness needs further development. As a CELTA centre we have to be sure that every candidate offered a place is in a position to pass all the assessed components of the course. The evidence from last week's interview clearly indicates that you are not ready, at the moment, to undertake this very demanding qualification.
I appreciate that you will be disappointed with this decision. However, you are more than welcome to apply again in 6 months' time. Before then you should take some concrete action to address the issues highlighted above. I would strongly suggest studying for the IELTS. We accept a minimum score of 7.5 in each of the four skills of the IELTS Academic exam.
Good luck in the future.



What should I do next? I feel a bit lost. Would appreciate the advice.

Have you taken IELTS before, and if so, what was your grade?

I've never taken IELTS before. I'm going to tell you a bit about my language background. I studied in English all my life,whether in school or in the University. I am a law graduate. I chose to be a teacher. I started my teaching career as a private tutor for a while, then I joined a school two and a half years ago. The only English Language grade I ever had was in the IGCSE, in the year 2000.
If you want me to post my pre-task interview, I would happily do that.
Thank you for your help, much appreciated.

What did they base this comment on your writing on?

The written task you completed did not meet the very high standard required to be accepted onto the course. Your text showed a number of grammatical and lexical problems.

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albouhi said:

I've never taken IELTS before. I'm going to tell you a bit about my language background. I studied[STRIKE] in[/STRIKE] English all my life,[STRIKE]whether[/STRIKE] (either) in school or in [STRIKE]the[/STRIKE] university.

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You've got a few errors in this post, even though it wasn't ambitious writing. Perhaps, in your written task, you tried to write more complicated English and made more minor mistakes.
The letter seems to be quite clear, and the advice to study for IELTS and reapply at some time in the future seems to be good advice, even if you are hoping for better from here.

Raymott said:

You've got a few errors in this post, even though it wasn't ambitious writing. Perhaps, in your written task, you tried to write more complicated English and made more minor mistakes.
The letter seems to be quite clear, and the advice to study for IELTS and reapply at some time in the future seems to be good advice, even if you are hoping for better from here.

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I meant by "in English" my school studies, subjects etc... as I'm not a native speaker, rather brought up in a native speaking environment.

Ah, I see.

Tdol said:

What did they base this comment on your writing on?

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I got more feedback on the matter from them:


[FONT=&quot]Thank you for your email. Because of the number of applications we process, we will not be able to give you very detailed feedback, but below are some areas that were noticed: [/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]Your spoken English did not show a wide range of grammatical structures, i.e. most of your sentences were simple. [/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]In the writing task, some of your sentences were too long and were inappropriately linked, i.e. you used the inappropriate conjunction. [/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]Your language analysis was not thorough enough as you were unable to clarify the differences in meaning between the two sentences.[/FONT]

If you want an idea of what IELTS 7.5 means, you can see the descriptors used here: https://www.ielts.org/ielts-for-organisations/ielts-scoring-in-detail

I wonder if it would be a good idea to make that link available somewhere on the forum, perhaps as a sticky thread or in the Articles section. It would be very helpful for a lot of learners.

Thank you all for your input. You know, it's not that I don't understand what it entails, rather I'm baffled by the comments on some parts that I explain to my classes on daily basis. Grammar for instance, they gave me in the interview these two sentences:
1) She studied English last year.
2) She's been studying English for five years.

I explained the two sentences under pressure (I get anxiety in interviews), so it didn't come out the way expected from a teacher. This is another thing I want to tackle, it also used to happen in my IGCSE exams. I used to prepare well, even get good grades in my mocks, but in the real thing my brain goes blank.

If God wills, I'm going to take the IELTS exam, but I need to refine the areas of weakness I've got. That's why I'm here. Thank you again for the help.

Since you have identified and self-admitted the cause of your failure in interviews, you are much closer to being able to do something about it. I can't really offer a solution, since I don't know what resources are available to you. You could research "exam anxiety" or "interview anxiety" on the web. You might find something suitable, or at least get some ideas.